1. Field of the Invention
The present invention pertains generally to the field of fishing and angling equipment and is more particularly directed to an improved automatic fish securing device.
2. State of the Prior Art
Anglers are frequently frustrated by the loss of a fish which having been caught on a hook and line, frees itself because the hook failed to set securely and becomes disengaged in the struggle put up by the fish. Occasionally, the hook proves too small or weak for the size or strength of a particular fish and is torn out of the fish body by the resistance of the fish against the pull of the fishing line. On still other occasions, a weak or undersized hook may straighten out of its normal curved shape by the force of the fish which is then able to disengage itself from the hook. Such experiences have lead to efforts directed towards development of more effective securing device capable of grasping securely the body of a fish rather than relying only on a hook set in the mouth of the fish.
A considerable number of devices has been developed for such purposes and in general include two or more spear arms or large hooks hinged together at one end by means of a spring loaded mechanism which is cocked with the spear arms in an open position and tripped to a closed position by the tugging of a fish on a trip line to which is attached a conventional baited fish hook or fish lure. When so tripped, the spear arms or hooks pierce the body of the fish which is then caught and held between the closed spear arms.
The prior art devices differ from each other primarily in the design and mechanical operation of the spring loaded actuating mechanism. In general, these devices are manually set or cocked against the spring loading and each is provided with a trip mechanism which suddenly releases a cocking or latch mechanism so that the spear arms or body engaging hooks are released under spring loading for inward pivoting movement at their outer ends against the body of a fish tugging at a baited hook connected to the trip mechanism and positioned between the fish engaging spear arms or hooks.
Further improvement in such devices is desirable nonetheless so as to make a fish securing device suitable for casting by means of a rod and reel combination of conventional design such that the fish securing device can be cast, i.e. flung through the air to a fishing area distant from the fisherman in its cocked position without being tripped by the force exerted on the device during casting. It is further desirable to modify the spring loading and tripping mechanism for improved streamlined configuration so as to minimize the drag of the device in the water during recovery by means of the aforementioned rod and reel and so that it can be readily trolled behind a fishing vessel without excessive and damaging drag forces being imposed on the device. Still further, a continuing need exists for such a fish securing device, of sufficiently rugged and reliable construction and adapted to be effectively used on the bottom of the fishing area, to be sufficiently streamlined so as not to become ensnared in aquatic vegetation or rocks normally found on such bottom surfaces.